"I bring you a letter from the Emperor, count."
He waited while I tore it open with fingers that trembled. It was short and peremptory enough, but what did it not mean to me?
"I have decided to restore to you your title and possessions. The question of your future career remains in abeyance for the present."
That was all; with the signature of the Emperor himself.
"May I be the first to offer a word of congratulation, count?" asked the messenger.
"Thank you, thank you," I murmured. "It is all unexpected."
He still waited, and I thought there might be something more to add.
"Is there anything more to add?" I asked.
"His Majesty suggests that you should travel for a time—a year or so, perhaps—so that the manner of your return to Berlin and your resumption of your position may not seem to come as the result of this business here in Munich."
"I understand," I said, though I still seemed in a dream. "And am I free to go where I please now?"